As a response to earlier this week’s chemical weapons attack by the Assad regime, the United States military struck a Syrian airfield. This marks the first U.S military operation against an Arab government since President Barack Obama’s intervention in Libya in 2011.
The attack launched more than 50 Tomahawk missiles into Syria, who was targeting the al-Shayrat military airfield. The attack from the U.S. was a clear response to the chemical weapons that killed around 70 innocent civilians earlier this week. The direct location was at an air base in the central city of Homs, which is where Syria planned their aircraft for their chemical weapon attack.
It is unclear of what legal authority President Donald Trump used to order the strikes in Syria. There were news reports on Thursday that said he had told some congressional lawmakers he was considering a military option in Syria; however, nothing had been confirmed. Strikes against ISIS are typically covered by the Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF), but the AUMF does not cover against the Assad regime.
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in her first interview since her defeat in the 2016 presidential election, stated: “ I think we should have been more willing to confront Assad.” Clinton, back when she was the Secretary of State under Obama, favored less interference with the Assad regime.
“I really believe we should have and still should take out his airfields and prevent him from being able to use them to bomb innocent people,” she said in the same interview.
This is all that has been reported regarding the U.S military attack. More will be coming as time goes on.
